ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF SEVERAL SPECIAL PROPER NOUNS

Our ability to function in today’s social and economic world is mightily affected by our language skills and word knowledge. A spoken language is dynamic, its vocabulary being enriched by new words all the time. A special category of lexical creations are the eponyms and the antonomasias, linking various fields: literature, history, mythology, economics, marketing, law etc. A brief analysis of some of these proper names, now common nouns, shows us that poor interdisciplinary knowledge makes the understanding of a text almost impossible. Eponyms and antonomasia are met in everyday language. Their study yields a fascinating insight into the rich heritage of the languages and their development. From a legal and an economic point of view, these phenomena have affected the right of a trademark since becoming legal. It is true that finding a name for a new product is a risky approach, particularly from the financial point of view. The paper provides examples and discusses the most important aspects implied by these linguistic issues.